Righetti's baseball squad must win today for its season to have much at stake past, well, today.

Atascadero beat the Warriors 12-4 at Righetti Tuesday and moved into a tie with the Warriors for the fourth and last PAC-7 League playoff spot. Both squads are 7-9 in league games with two regular season games left.

The squads continue their three-game series with a 4:30 p.m. game today at Atascadero. They square off at the same time Friday at Righetti. A split the next two games won't do for the Warriors, since the Greyhounds (12-12 overall) would get the fourth playoff spot thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Righetti coach Brian Tomooka said, “We've done all right on the road, but that really doesn't make any difference. It's all down to these next two games. The kids have to show up to play (today).”

The Greyhounds were certainly ready Tuesday.

All of their starting hitters reached base at least once. Eight had at least one hit. Brett Hiatt and Tony Orozco both doubled twice. Matt Poulin hit a two-run home run, en route to a four RBI day, in Atascadero's five-run third inning, and Logan Allen drove in three runs.

Atascadero coach Rex West said, “We really hit the ball well today. We hit the ball hard.”

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Besides, relief pitcher Kenny Block terminated Righetti's hopes with one-hit ball after relieving Greyhounds starting pitcher Brad Smet with one out in the third inning. The Warriors had momentum with four runs in when Block entered.

West said, “This was Kenny's fourth appearance, his first in relief, and it was his first win. He's a sophomore, he's worked hard all year, and he did very well today. We're very happy for him.

“Our starter just couldn't find the strike zone,” after being staked to a 7-0 lead. Block had no trouble finding it. He struck out six.

Ethan Rae led off the third with a single for Righetti's first hit. Smet walked the next two batters, Chris Rivera scored Rae with a sacrifice fly, then Taylor Mowatt smacked a double to plate Matt Miller after Timmy Dwyer scored on an error.

Jonathan Velazquez scored Mowatt with a single, but that was Righetti's last hurrah. Ricky Cabigon's double in the sixth was the only hit Block gave up.

Tomooka said, “We just didn't play very well today. It started in the first inning with two unearned runs,” for Atascadero.

Righetti starting pitcher Sam Halop threw Allen's potential double play ball high. The ball glanced off the second baseman's glove and wound up in center field. With one out, Atascadero played hit-and-run and Allen broke for second base. Good move.

Righetti shortstop Velazquez fielded Hiatt's sharp ground ball. Since Allen was steaming toward second beforehand, though, Velazquez had no chance for an inning-ending double play. Louis Coppo scored, then Poulin singled home Allen.

Halop's curve stayed up in the third inning, and the Greyhounds rapped a succession of RBI hits. Allen went with an outside pitch for one opposite-field RBI single, to right field, then he scored as Bryce Cherry went with a pitch on the outer half of the plate for another opposite-field RBI, to left field.

Coppo and Allen set themselves up to score by stealing second base. Allen's and Cherry's RBIs followed. Hiatt ripped an RBI double, Poulin walloped a 2-1 pitch over the left-center field fence for a two-run home run, and then Orozco hammered a double.

Richard Easton relieved Halop and got his team out of the inning by retiring the next two batters. The Greyhounds, after seeing Righetti pull within striking distance in the bottom third, responded by scoring once n the fourth inning, twice in the fifth, once in the sixth and once in the seventh.

Paso Robles 4, Pioneer Valley 0

Reese Edwards had the Panthers' only hit at Paso Robles, a single to lead off the seventh inning.

The Bearcats (12-3-1 PAC-7 League) stayed in first place by a half game over San Luis Obispo. Pioneer Valley dropped to 4-12 in the PAC-7.

SLO 2, Nipomo 1

The Tigers (12-4-0 PAC-7) tied the game in the last of the seventh, then won it in the last of the ninth on Darren Mullen's sacrifice fly at San Luis Obispo.

Manny Reyes scored Nipomo's run on Eddie Chavarria's squeeze bunt in the sixth inning. Reyes went 2-for-2 for the Titans (4-12 PAC-7), doubling twice. Teammate Matt Limon was 2-for-4.

St. Joseph 15, Morro Bay 0

St. Joseph kept pace with Lompoc and Santa Ynez for the Los Padres League's second place spot with one game remaining.

The Knights pounded the Pirates, scoring seven runs over the first two innings and seven more in the seventh inning.

Jacob Cano hit a solo home run for St. Joseph in the sixth inning. Cano finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs and four runs scored. Paul Rodriguez and Travis Biegel both went 3-for-4. Jeff Smith pitched six innings of two-hit ball, allowing just two walks with six strikeouts.

St. Joseph moved to 7-4 in league, one game behind both Lompoc and Santa Ynez. St. Joseph faces Santa Maria on Friday.

Santa Ynez 13, Templeton 7

The Pirates 8-3, 15-9) came from 6-0 down to win at Santa Ynez and set up a Friday showdown at Lompoc for first place.

The teams will play at 4 p.m.

Chase Yost got the Pirates rolling with his seventh home run of the year, a three-run shot in the third inning. Santa Ynez pulled ahead with six runs in the fifth inning, and Eric Carvalho shut out Templeton after coming on in relief in the fourth inning.

Templeton (6-5) is in fifth place in the LPL with a regular season game remaining against Morro Bay.

Softball

St. Joseph 6, Morro Bay 1

Alex Sanders went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs as the Knights (8-3, 15-12) won at Morro Bay and locked up second place in the Los Padres League for the third consecutive year.

St. Joseph junior Kailey Snyder pitched a six-hit complete game. Claire Hoose homered in the sixth for Morro Bay's lone run. She was 2-for-3 for the Pirates (6-5 LPL).

Snyder, Caitlin Voss, Shayli Swaim and Katie McNulty all doubled for St. Joseph.

Cabrillo 6, Lompoc 5

The Conquistadores came off the deck with five runs in the last of the seventh inning against Lompoc ace Jeana Carrillo to grab the win at Cabrillo.

Alyssa Abayari hit a two-run double during Cabrillo's big seventh inning. She had two hits. The winning run scored on an error.

The Conqs finished their regular season 6-6 in the Los Padres League and 13-11 overall. Now, they will wait and hope. Morro Bay and Lompoc are tied for third place in the LPL at 6-5. Four league teams go to the playoffs.

Morro Bay plays against first-place Templeton in a regular season finale Friday. Lompoc hosts last-place Santa Ynez the same day. The Conquistadores split their season series against Morro Bay and Lompoc, so it is unclear what Cabrillo's prospects in a tiebreaker would be.

Kelcie Jo Pecyna doubled for Cabrillo Tuesday. Courtney Dosa doubled for Lompoc.

Paso Robles 2, Righetti 0

Stacie Salazar no-hit the Warriors (3-8 PAC-7) at Paso Robles.

Righetti starting pitcher Hayley Davis pitched well herself. Davis, who is former prep and collegiate softball pitching great Tracy Davis' daughter, hurled a two-hit complete game in her first game back since hurting her flexor muscle in Righetti's season opener at a Sacramento tournament.

The Bearcats (11-1 PAC-7) finished their regular season. They had long since wrapped up the league championship.

Coastal Christian 5, VCA 0

Katie Rowan singled for the Lions' only hit at Arroyo Grande-based Coastal Christian.

Rachel Myers not only one-hit Valley Christian Academy (6-8, 6-11), she doubled in this Coast Valley League game. Madison Sano tripled for Coastal Christian.

CIF Swimming - Division IV Preliminaries

LONG BEACH - Santa Maria's Paty Vogel was the top qualifier in the girls 100-yard breaststroke at the Belmont Plaza pool. The second seed swam a 1:10.09.

The Saints' 200 yard medley relay team of Karen Hollinshead, Vogel, Lanessa Horton-Scott and Courtney Hodge qualified fifth in 2:00.76.

The top eight finishers in each event qualified for the “A” finals. Placers 9-16 qualified for consolation finals. Finals start at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Belmont Plaza pool.

May 07, 2008